"David Cameron’s renegotiation with Brussels is nothing more than a deal ‘hammered out down the local bazaar’, a senior EU figure has said.

The Prime Minister spent months meeting European leaders to come to his agreement, which he claims gives Britain a ‘special status’ in the EU and powers to suspend migrants’ benefits.

But Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, vice-president of the European Parliament, said the deal was not legally binding – and warned that MEPs may vote down any elements which hampered the EU principle of freedom of movement.

Out campaigners said the comments showed that the British people had been ‘hoodwinked’ – because the European Parliament could tear up the deal after the referendum.

Mr Lamsdorff – also known as Count Lamsdorff as he is part of the German aristocracy – sits as an MEP for the country’s liberal Free Democratic Party.

Five years ago he was quoted saying: ‘It was a mistake to admit the British into the European Union.’

Speaking to the EurActiv Germany website, he said yesterday that the deal between the European Council and the UK was ‘not legally binding’.

‘At the moment, the whole thing is nothing more than a deal that has been hammered out down the local bazaar,’ he said.

‘The European Union, however, is a community of law, in which there are regulated responsibilities.

‘If the British are going to put all their eggs in one basket, in a promise made like this, which has not yet complied with our clean process of law, them for me, this process of law is more important and preferable.’

Mr Lamsdorff said that the ‘emergency brake’ idea – under which in-work benefits for EU migrants could be suspended for four years in times of pressure – went ‘too far’, and could lead to the end of the single market.

For the emergency brake to come into force, the EU directive on free movement has to be modified with the consent of the European Parliament.

Asked whether this might be refuse, he said: ‘I’m sure that I will certainly not agree to a change of the directive, as it would restrict one of our basic fundamental freedoms.

‘I assume that many in my group will feel the same. What position the other groups take remains to be seen.

‘But I believe that we in the Parliament have an institutional responsibility to protect the common European integration, which is incompatibl with measures that will help bring down the internal market.’

Last night Priti Patel, the employment minister and member of the Leave campaign, said: ‘These comments suggest that EU politicians entered into the renegotiations with profound ill-intent.

‘They hoped that the British people could be hoodwinked into remaining in the EU on the basis of a deal that the European Parliament will tear up within days of the referendum result.

‘It serves as a timely reminder that so-called reform agreements with the EU are not worth the paper they are written on.’ "

People like Richard North of EUReferendum.com have been saying ever since Dave brought the deal home that it is worthless.

The deal is not legally binding and the European Parliament could yet vote down parts of the deal. Other parts that depend on a new European Treaty cannot be enacted because there is no treaty change on the agenda and France states that there is no need for a new treaty.

Dennis Skinner was thrown out of the House of Commons for calling Mr Cameron 'Dodgy Dave'. Well actually that was quite mild.

The deal is not only dodgy, it is not enforceable and will not be enforced.

There is nothing here to see and no deal.

David Cameron is not to be trusted. He has, sadly, lied to the British people and to the House of Commons.

This referendum is about taking power away from the politicians and giving it back to the people. It is about the Governance of the United Kingdom.

There is nothing to fear from a vote to Leave. A Leave vote is not a leap in the dark. It is a statement of intent to put the United Kingdom back at the top table, not acting in the interests of the other 27 nations of the European Union but in the interests of the United Kingdom.

David Cameron is not to be trusted.

David Cameron has lied to the House of Commons

David Cameron has lied to the British people

Have confidence in the future of an Independent Sovereign United Kingdom